What happened to Couts?

Does anyone know what happened to Baylor's Brandon Couts. He looked to have a promising future in the 400m

[gh]

Re: What happened to Couts?

He picked about as tough an event as there is in the U.S. Three-time NCAA scorer, but never higher than 4th and wasn't good enough to get any better than one No. 9 U.S. Ranking. Which meant that when he graduated, unless he had the time/money to finance his own career, he was probably pretty much out of luck.

For a guy in a similar boat, check out Geno White, who was the American who finished directly ahead of Couts at the NCs in both their senior and junior years. He has basically disappeared too.

Re: What happened to Couts?

Not only those two but also USC's Jerome Davis who was better than both Couts and White in my opinion.

Re: What happened to Couts?

Do you think injuries played a role in these young men early retirement. Do you think that they will pop up again?

[DentyCracker]

Re: What happened to Couts?

I always thought he was a bit too short for the event. (Tell that to Darren Clark [AUS], Jamie Baulch or Derek Mills ) I also thought he was over-rated, but that is just my opinion. I thought Ja'Warren Hooker was a better talent but he has also more or less disappeared.

[Keyser Soze]

Re: What happened to Couts?

Many of our young guys become a victim of the college system. I feel sometimes the coaches are more concerned with scoring points than the longevity of the athlete. I watched the Big 12 championships one year and saw Couts run the 200m, 400m, and both relays. I remember him running at least two 400s (open and relay) every weekend for alomst his entire college career. Talk about burning a guy out. I feel if Baylor ran him a bit less during the regular season, he could have performed much better at the larger meets and had some success post collegiately.

I understand that coaches like to field a stroung team at every meet, but I think running a guy that much is very detrimental to his long term success. This is probably what happens to a lot of our young sprinters that we no longer see.

I'm sure there are a few other variables that we don't know about, but that's my opinion.

Re: What happened to Couts?

You're probably right about the collegiate burn-out phenomenon, but the job of the college coach isn't (as much as we'd like it to be) to prepare Olympians; it's to score points for the school while you're there.

Re: What happened to Couts?

You're absolutely right, coaches kill their athletes by making them run too many event too many weekends. It happens at the high school level frequently also. If they don't get injured they end up burnt out.

Re: What happened to Couts?

Not too mention other big high school names such as Obie Moore or Michael Granville, two of what was suppose to be the future Olympians

[magpie]

Re: What happened to Couts?

ditto marlon ramsey, a bright long sprint prospect when he entered baylor.

Re: What happened to Couts?

I saw him run a 44.2 SMR and then a 44.8 4x4 within 45 minutes at Drake in 2001. That was just one relay meet. Think of all the relays, opens, indoors and outdoors he had run in 4 years (just like most every good collegiate sprinter).

Did not have the power to sustain his march.

[BillCarr]

Re: What happened to Couts?

tilastopaja lists his yearly PR's as such

1996 45.83 1 New Orleans LA 1 Aug
1997 46.5h 1-HS Corsicana TX 1 Mar
1997 45.74 1-HS NatSch Raleigh NC 14 Jun
1998 45.04 1 DrakeR Des Moines IA 25 Apr
1999 45.39 1 Big 12 Waco TX 23 May
2000 44.72 2 Big 12 Columbia MO 21 May
2001 45.41 2h2 NC Eugene OR 21 Jun
2002 45.87 4r2 Jerome Burnaby 2 Jun
2003 45.82 5r3 MidSummer Walnut CA 12 Jul

so it looks like he was pretty serious in 2003. I remember when he was a freshman - I thought Couts was going to light the world on fire. He hasn't improved in 3 years.

Re: What happened to Couts?

If you can consider being a couple years out of college and not being as fast as you were in high school "serious".

Re: What happened to Couts?

In '99 he ran the season with an abdominal strain. In 2001 he pulled his hamstring and in 2002 he pulled his hamstring in the semifinals at the USA Outdoor Nationals. He did win indoor in 2002. I wouldn't consider him out, injuries happen. This is an Olympic year, everyone pops up.